Tigers manager Brad Ausmus swayed by the fire in the eyes of Max Scherzer

DETROIT >> If you could read lips, you probably already know what Max Scherzer said to his manager, when Brad Ausmus marched to the mound in the top of the seventh inning Saturday night, looking like he was ready to pull his starter.

“I said I wanted the ball. I wanted to face Ortiz,” Scherzer said after the game, in roughly the same tone he used with his manager.

With two on and two out in the inning, and the Tigers sitting on a four-run lead, Ausmus had the wiggle room to consider his options.

Considering the career numbers Ortiz had posted against Scherzer (8-for-21 with three home runs and a double coming in), the manager had Phil Coke already warmed up in the bullpen. Ortiz is 2-for-20 career against the lefty reliever.

Or, he could let Scherzer go for it.

“Yeah, it was more Max, and what he said to me, and the look on his face that changed my mind, and convinced me to give him the opportunity to get Ortiz. This guy’s a Cy Young winner, and we need him to go deep in games. So I like the fact that he wanted to go after one of the best hitters in the game, and I liked the fact that he wanted to do that, even though he was over 100 pitches, and he was deep in the game,” Ausmus said. “It didn’t work out, but it shows there’s some fire in there. Really, he was throwing 96 to Ortiz, so it’s not like he was out of gas. We ended up not getting him, but I really like the fact that he wanted to face him.”

Ortiz reached out and slapped a double to left field — the opposite way the Tigers had the outfield shifted — driving in one of the two baserunners.

“I felt like I had the bullets, I still had my best stuff. I wanted the ball in that situation because I felt like I could get him out. I got a couple outs against him earlier in the game, and I believed I had what it takes to get him out,” Scherzer said. “Just one of those things — he put a good swing on a good pitch, and he came out victorious — but I still believe I was more than capable of pitching in that situation.”

Scherzer is not one to prevaricate when asked his status.

If he’s gassed, he’s gassed. And he’ll say he’s gassed.

“Well, you know he’s being honest. If he didn’t have more, he’d have told me. He would’ve handed me the ball, or he would’ve told me ‘I’m gassed.’ The look on his face and in his eyes told me he really wanted him,” Ausmus said. “I love that. I love that mentality, especially from starting pitchers.”

It was not an attempt to show up a young manager, who is only a few years away from his own playing days.

It was just honesty.

“I’m definitely not that far from playing, which probably makes it easier for me to relate to these guys. But, the truth is, I have to make the decision on whether the pitcher comes out or not, based on the best interest of the team. Now, I’ll take into account what the player says. A lot of times, it’s not even what he says, it’s how he says it. You can tell by tone of voice, or body language. A lot of times, players will tell a manager what they think the manager wants to hear, but you’ve got to be able to decipher whether they mean it, or whether they’re just telling you what you want hear,” Ausmus said, dismissing the thought that he’s still ‘learning’ that type of situation.

“I’ve been on the mound in that situation hundreds of times, just not as the manager. Even though I wasn’t making the decisions then, I knew how I felt, or I knew what I would’ve done. I wouldn’t say it’s a new situation for me.”